Volcano Awareness Month

January 2014 is Hawaiʻi Island's 5th annual "Volcano Awareness Month." Today, as in the past, awareness is essential for us to live in harmony with the volcanoes that are our island home.

With this in mind, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, in cooperation with Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, and Hawaiʻi County Civil Defense, will provide a month-long series of programs about the volcanoes on which we live:

January 3, 2014, also marks the anniversary of Kīlauea's ongoing East Rift Zone eruption, which began in 1983. During the past 31 years, lava flows have buried 48 square miles of public and private land, destroying 214 structures, 9 miles of highway, and vast tracts of native forest. This destruction on Kīlauea's south flank is a reminder of why it's important to be aware of and understand how Hawaiian volcanoes work.